Class of 2026: 23 grads earn the title of Valedictorian

Alexis Keeney

By Amanda Respess

M ore than 1,400 students will graduate from Georgia College & State University next week, including 23 valedictorians from across the university's four academic colleges. Georgia College valedictorians are students who complete their academic career with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Meet the Valedictorians

Alexis Keeney is earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the College of Arts & Sciences, alongside a minor in Public Health and Leadership Certificate. Keeney - from Athens, Georgia - serves as the president for Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority Inc. As a first-year, Keeney was selected for the Fulbright UK Summer Institute to study at Queen's University Belfast. Keeney is this year's Georgia College & State University Academic Recognition Day recipient for the USG Board of Regents.

Morgan Sewell

Morgan Sewell, of Loganville, Georgia, will earn a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from the John H. Lounsbury College of Education. Sewell graduates with a job lined up as a 5th grade math teacher at Trip Elementary School in Grayson. She is also on her way to becoming a double Bobcat as she begins her master's degree in curriculum and instruction from GCSU this fall.

Emma Laprade is from Woodstock, Georgia, and has earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the College of Health Sciences, with a minor in women and gender studies. Laprade was a player on GCSU's women's club rugby team and plans to keep playing the sport post-grad. Laprade will begin her nursing residency at Northside Cherokee's Labor and Delivery Unit in August.

Aidan Kudlas from Dawsonville, Georgia, and Oscar Lynch from Cumming, Georgia, are making history at GCSU's first male scholar-athletes to earn the title of valedictorian. Kudlas and Lynch both played men's basketball for the Bobcats. Kudlas graduates from the College of College of Arts & Sciences with his Bachelor of Science in Biology and his headed on to medical school. Lynch graduates from the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology with his BBA in marketing with a job lines up as Project Accountant for Rogers Electric.

Emma Laprade

Sewell is the sole valedictorian from the College of Education's graduating class of approximately 300 students, including both undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to Lynch, MIS major Andrea Barnett and accounting major Avery Treadwell are also College of Business & Technology valedictorians. The College of Health Sciences has a total of four class valedictorians, with Laprade joined by fellow nursing graduate Anna Sorckoff along with exercise science majors Natalie Eydam and Alexis Walker. The College of Arts & Sciences, with over 400 graduates, boasts a total of 16 valedictorians.

Valedictorians from the College of Arts & Sciences

Kassie Arps (Alpharetta) - Mass Communication and Rhetoric, Nevaeh Bohannon (Byron) - Political Science, Emma Brunner (Buford) - English, Alexander Gerlach (Richmond Hill) - Biology, Hannah Gilleon (Blackshear) - Art/Graphic Design, Kara Grieve (Sugar Hill) - Psychology, Abby Helgesen (Marietta) - Mass Communication, Alexis Keeney (Athens) - Sociology, Aidan Kudlas (Dawsonville) - Biology, Amanda Nelson (Talking Rock) - Biology, Kinsley Stevens (Alpharetta) - French, Philosophy and Psychology, Kora Strickland (Loganville) - Psychology, Kate Walker (Watkinsville) - English/Creative Writing, Kennedy Welker (Thomaston) - English/Creative Writing and Spanish, Emily Wright (Evans) - Political Science and Philosophy, Avery Treadwell (Buford) - Spanish and Accounting

Valedictorians from the College of Business & Technology

Avery Treadwell (Burford) - Spanish and Accounting, Andrea Barnett (Monroe) - Management Information Systems, Oscar Lynch (Cumming) - Marketing

Valedictorians from the College of Health Sciences

Natalie Eydam (Moreland) - Exercise Science, Emma Laprade (Woodstock) - Nursing, Anna Sorckoff (Roswell) - Nursing, Alexis Walker (Jefferson) - Exercise Science

Valedictorian from the College of Education

Morgan Sewell (Loganville) - Elementary Education

Celebrate with Us

Basketball teammates and valedictorians Aidan Kudlas and Oscar Lynch Commencement at GCSU is organized into four events, with one ceremony for each academic college. All ceremonies take place in The Centennial Center.

College of Health Sciences - 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 13

Keynote speaker is Dr. Keisha Reneé Callins, OB/GYN, Community Health Care Systems and Professor, Mercer School of Medicine. Dr. Callins is member of GCSU's College of Health Sciences Leadership Board and has served on the governing board of the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at GCSU since 2017.

John H. Lounsbury College of Education - 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13

Keynote speaker is Holly Witcher ('01), a special education teacher in White County and the 2025 Georgia Teacher of the Year. A 23-year teaching veteran, Holly previously spent 10 years at Georgia Cyber Academy as a lead teacher and Elementary School Assistant Administrator of Special Programs.

J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology - 10 a.m. Thursday, May 14

Keynote speaker is Dilanka Seimon ('03), chief commercial officer, BKV Corporation. Seimon serves on the Georgia College & State University Foundation. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from GCSU and holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, a diploma in Economics from the University of London, and he completed Harvard Business School's General Management Program.

College of Arts & Sciences - 3 p.m. Thursday, May 14

Keynote speaker is Dr. Laurie Peebles, associate professor of music therapy and coordinator of the Master of Music Therapy program at GCSU. Peebles started a music therapy program in Zhengzhou, China, and more recently has been involved in community-based participatory action research with local veterans. In 2025, Dr. Peebles was the Georgia College & State University Excellence in Teaching Award recipient.

Hayley Conway and Jade Ferguson contributed to the reporting for this story.